India begins shipping metro coaches to Australia

New Delhi, Jan 29: India on Friday shipped the maiden consignment of six metro coaches to Australia, an official statement said.

"This is the first shipment of the planned 450 coaches that will be exported to Australia over two and half year period," said a shipping ministry statement.

The coaches, each 75 feet long and weighing 46 tonnes, were built in Baroda, and shipped from Mumbai port as it boasts supremacy in handling oversized precious cargo.

"Requiring a superior and highly specialised loading operation with a high degree of precision, the entire stevedoring operation (loading into ship) of these prestigious oversized metro coaches has been done in-house by Mumbai Port Trust," the statement said.

In all other Indian ports, similar stevedoring operations are carried out by private players, the statement added.